Corus 2003 at Wijk aan Zee, Round 3

by Aviv Friedman

Corus chess tournament, round 3:
A small update about the Ponomariov- FIDE situation, courtesy of Arvind Aaron, the Indian 'Hindu' reporter: Both FIDE's VP's Azmaiparashvili and Makropulous have left yesterday without Ponomariov's signature. Disappointed, they predicted that the current FIDE champ would end up forfeited, and replaced with Ivanchuk (who already confirmed participation as the runner up, and typically a good sport informed Pono that he did so!) While no new deadline is set, barring a move from Ruslan himself, FIDE will not approach him again, as per to the leaving representatives. Makropulous had said that he thought that the Ukrainian GM who did not return phone calls or any other attempts to contact him is running away not just from them or FIDE, but also from Kasparov. He said that FIDE has shown good will by giving Ponomariov all the documents he has asked for, agreed to move the match to a date after June 15th as he requested, but will absolutely will not budge on the time control or his demand to be declared the winner in case of a 6-6 tie. Hinting that a decision on the case can come within days or even hours, one should keep a curious eye on the FIDE site (www.chessdaily.com) for possible sudden updates. My personal observation of Ponomariov when sitting one table away from him at dinner last night (The "Klein Switzerland" restaurant - yummmm!!J) he was all smiles, still enjoying his prestigious victory over Kramnik in round 2, chatting continuously with his companions and feasting on some very good food. No worries there!

Today's games:

Krasenkov - Ponomariov: A good old Queen's Indian Defense, with white choosing a set up that Kasparov was very fond of and successful with. What starts as a quiet, positional variation can develop to a deadly kingside attack by white, as Gary has proven some 15-20 years ago. Here too white mobilized forces towards the black king, but Pono's set up and especially the battery of Q and B along the h1-a8 diagonal looked like a smart defense. When most pieces went off, a strange double B ending arose. The mood in the pressroom was that 'either player can win this' and that it would take lots of calculations to know for sure. In such cases it is a high time to put one's money on a draw which of course happened. Perhaps it was justified.

Shirov - Ivanchuk: Today we saw Alexey going for a footnote of a line in the Kalachnikov Sicilian, although of course in this

Shirov vs Ivanchuk

day and age nothing is new. On move 13 Ivanchuk improved with his 13…Na5(!) on 13…Na7, which seems quite unnatural. After a few more moves, black already looked slightly better but on move 20 the players decided to call it a day. After the game when asked to comment Shirov wasn't interested… saying only that he was indeed worse somewhat at the end.

Grischuk - Karpov:

Grischuk

When playing 1.e4 against Karpov one never knows what opening or variation will occur. One of the world's leading experts on both the Caro Kann and the Ruy Lopez, the veteran GM decided on a contemporary Petroff against his ambitious opponent. 21.Nf3 seems to be new, and in any case was played instantly by Grischuk. 21.h5, which was played before, led to nothing after 21…Bxh5 and 22…hxg5. White didn't manage to prove much, after all it is not easy to get something against 'Tolya' and with all the pieces off except the queens which were next, Karpov proposed a draw which was of course accepted.

Kramnik - Bareev: A very relaxed side line of the classical Caro Kann with an early queen trade signaled to all that this won't be anything too exciting for the crowd. We witnessed some shuffling, some attempts at improving the position from both sides which is exactly where black starting going south. His 21…Kd7? Was a bad decision. After 21…0-0 we wouldn't have much to write home about. On the very next move he continued his slide with 22…Bd8? White was already giving him the bear hug with 25.c5! and worse yet 27.Rh3!!. White gradually increased his advantage till his coup de grace 46.Bf6! (if 46…gxf6 47.exf6 with the winning idea of Kg5, h6, winning the N and the ensuing r ending) Nice comeback by the top seed!   Analysis by GM Alterman (PGN format).

Polgar - Timman: A known main line in the Taimanov Sicilian involving a poisoned center pawn offering which is never accepted.

Polgar vs Timman

Black chose a not-so-popular line with 13…d5 whereas 13…c5 14.Be5 is the main discussion. After the game Judit said that this sub variation is more pleasant from the white side and criticized the exchange on c4 thinking it would have been wiser to leave the tension in the center. While she underestimated 20…Nb6 things turned out ok for her, keeping a slight advantage. Perhaps 23…Nc5 was a better move than 23…Bc5 as white had a pretty nice edge. Timman erred with 26…g6? Where 26…Qe5! Would have kept the game going. Absent of that stubborn move Judit wrapped the game up in exemplary fashion!

Anand - van Wely: Home preparation of the highest order! The players have decided to discuss the ever-topical Sveshnikov Sicilian, and followed two older games from the 70's(!) both with Timochenko as black and both drawn. Anand deviated on move 26.a4 whereas before in the abovementioned games 26.a3 and 26.Rad1 were played. After the game he admitted to overlooking the strong 23…Nb4! In his preparation, and so the game didn't last too long and was agreed drawn only 1 move later. Loeky was looking quite pleased after the game.

Radjabov - Topalov: A very exciting game! After a normal Bogo-Indian, black invited a storm with his 15…Nh5 16.Qa4. In the occurring slugfest black sacrificed an exchange for some very tangible compensation. White quickly offered to return the exchange in order to patch up his shattered kingside and rid himself of the menacing black minor pieces. Topalov burned some time trying to max his chances, and he kept the pressure rather than cash out quickly. After continuous improvement of his position along with Radjabov's lack of plan, it became obvious that black is having the better of it, despite the material deficit. It is tough to pinpoint if and where white might have had better, but after pushing both his rook pawns down his opponent's territory black was winning. With a few flawless moves Topalov reminded all why he is where he is at the top and the TV screen registered an impressive 0-1.

Polgar Analyzes

Photos by Jan van de Mortel, courtesy Corus Tournament Organization.

Photos by Jan van de Mortel, courtesy Corus Tournament Organization.

ICC Coverage of Corus 2003 Copyright © Internet Chess Club 2003